15 Moments for 15 Seasons - No. 5

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Wests Tigers are counting down the top 15 moments in the Club's history to commemorate with their 15th Anniversary season in the NRL.

As voted by the fans, here's Moment No. 5.

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Jared Waerea-Hargreaves called it “an absolute beauty.”

Former Bulldogs powerhouse David “Cement” Gillespie called it “the best one-on-one tackle I’ve seen in 10 years of football.”

And for the 30,000-plus fans who packed into the Sydney Football Stadium in 2010 for Wests Tigers’ blockbuster final against the Sydney Roosters, few would forget the moment that they first saw and heard the contact from Simon Dwyer.

Dwyer himself still recalls the moment with fondness, but laughs when asked whether he actually intended to deliver one of the biggest hits of all time.

“I was really just trying to get back onside,” laughed Dwyer. “It was a pretty tough game — obviously it was pretty long — and I was just trying to get back.

“I’m trying to get back and then I have Hargreaves running at me to I just had to do my best and try and stop him from going any further.

“I was stuffed.

“I’m just glad it came off in my favour.”

Dwyer, who really made his name in first-grade throughout what was a strong 2010 season for the up-and-coming forward, said that while the match itself was a disappointing result, it will always remain a memorable night for him.

“It was definitely the biggest hit I’ve ever put on,” he stated.

“Especially to do so against a top forward like Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.”

“It’s definitely the highlight of my career,” he said, “except for that scrum.”

“The scrum wasn’t really formed properly when the ball was put in. I’m not too sure what really happened there — I was still in a daze from the hit — but we somehow managed to lose the ball and then Braith [Anasta] slotted a really good field goal that kept them in it.”

“But that’s just footy, I guess.”

After Anasta’s field-goal to tie the match, the Roosters would go on to dramatically snare victory with a try in extra-time. That would see Wests Tigers play Canberra in a semi-final before taking on St. George-Illawarra for a place in the 2010 Grand Final — a match that would again see a field goal (this time from Jamie Soward) end their hopes at further premiership success and redeeming themselves against the Roosters.

But there was nothing that could be done to take Dwyer’s huge hit away.